The show, which in the U.S. version also features Brian Malarkey and Ludo Lefebvre as celebrity judges, has been a sales hit internationally, with local versions planned for Canada, Germany, Australia and France, among others. ABC has just commissioned a second season of the U.S. original.

Lawson began her career as a TV chef with a series of cooking specials on Channel 4. More recently, the celebrity has been in the news because of her very public split with her husband, famed ad executive and modern art collector Charles Saatchi. Saatchi was recently photographed grabbing Nigella’s throat at Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair, central London, an incident that led to a police caution for assault and to a broad media discussion in Britain about domestic abuse.